The voices Sylvan Lake Sacred Massed Choir will reconvene this year, but not to share the spirit of Christmas.
The choir, according to Director Kerry Heisler, is taking the non-seasonal route this year with their eyes set on a spring concert the weekend before May long.
“It would allow for more time to pass before we attempt face-to-face because right now we don’t have any place we can rehearse,” explained Heisler.
With Easter being the first weekend of April it is still too early for the choir to tell that story, so the choice to use a non-seasonal cantata allowed more breathing room in scheduling.
“There’s not a story to go along with this, it’s just a selection of pieces, but wonderfully orchestrated, beautifully written and arranged by really experienced composers and arrangers,” said Heisler.
She added it is a collection of hymns and gospels people have experienced throughout their faith-based life, but members don’t have to live a life of faith to be involved.
“You could just want to sing together in a large group, but that’s the music we perform.”
Heisler has proposed virtual rehearsals to the choir for anyone who is comfortable with those rehearsals beginning mid-fall.
The rehearsals will be held through a platform such as Zoom where people will be able to still experience the connection, which Heisler says, is “just as important as the singing.”
Choir members will receive their books and be able to download the music to their computers to practice at home.
At this time singing with masks on is not encouraged for her as an educator, guidelines she is carrying over to her community choir.
“Our commitment is to follow the Alberta Health guidelines,” she said, “… as information permits and things change then we will adapt and change with that.”
The hope is to be able to host the concert as usual in May, although there is also an option to utilize an outdoor venue.
“We don’t know what the rules of the game are going to say,” continued Heisler.
If no face-to-face practice is permitted in the weeks leading up to the Victoria Day it is likely the concert will not happen.
This year the choir is still looking to support their charities, such as Bibles for Grads, and are asking people to save the date for the concert.
“We are very fortunate that we have a solid group of people who have been involved for a number of years and hopefully those that were thinking they wanted to become involved will still feel like they can.”
Those interested in joining the choir can contact Ruth Ann Sigurdson at sigurdsonra@gmail.com.